A Colorado-connected effort to stimulate rural economic development is taking on a decided country twang.

Award-winning entertainer and Country Music Hall of Fame member Vince Gill is lending his voice to America’s Best Communities, a competition with $10 million to be awarded to winning proposals for rural revitalization.

The competition is sponsored by Frontier Communications, Dish Network and CoBank. Dish and CoBank are based in metro Denver. Bad luck, however, for Colorado’s smaller communities which aren’t eligible to compete for the prizes. The competition is open only to towns in the 28 states served by Frontier. Read more…

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Economists speaking at the annual Vectra Bank economic forecast meeting on Wednesday were upbeat about the new year, yet each cautioned that consumers and industry were still wary of anything that could derail the progress.

Though growth in a number of sectors — employment, personal wealth, construction — from last year gives a pretty strong sense that the recession is subsiding, the dings we all experienced over the past few years are still fresh enough to keep us on edge.

“2013 was a year of records, in employment, housing, commercial real estate, the stock market,” said Patricia Silverstein, president of Development Research Partners. “But it’s indeed a delicate balance. We recognize that we’re on a major growth trend, but we’re wary since something can knock us off this balance at any point in time.”Read more…

Nearly 1-in-3 mobile phone owners accessed a financial account via their phone in the past 12 months, a marked increase from a year earlier, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.

For those who own a smartphone, the number jumps to nearly half of all users, according to the study of consumer attitudes released by the reserve’s Board of Governors.

It’s the second survey of its kind, in part so the Fed could understand “how the rapidly expanding use of this technology affects consumer decision-making and the overall economy,” it said in a statement announcing the findings.

More interesting is that use of financial mobile services — the fancy phrase for mobile banking — is “particularly prevalent” among the 10 percent of the population that is “underbanked,” describing those who have a bank account but rely on check cashers and payday lenders.

The use of mobile banking has increased 33 percent between 2011 and 2012, but “many consumers remain skeptical of the benefit of mobile banking and the level of security associated with the technology,” the Fed said in the report.

The most common use of mobile banking: checking the balance of an account. The next most-common was transferring funds from one account to another.

On the rise is using a mobile phone to deposit a check, doubling to 21 percent from a year earlier.

Still, fewer than a fourth of all mobile phone users — estimated at about 87 percent of the U.S. adult population — said they had any interest in using their phone to buy something at the point-of-sale.

The survey covered responses from nearly 2,600 people and was completed in November 2012.

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Troubleshooter Tom Martino's bankruptcy deal has been approved, bring the saga to an end.

The oft-contentious personal bankruptcy case of radioman Tom Martino closed a key chapter Tuesday when a federal judge signed off on a settlement agreement, ending an 18-month-long saga for the self-anointed troubleshooter.

Though U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Romero signed the settlement deal, Martino, 59, still has a pair of equally contentious lawsuits to finish, both rooted in claims he tried to pull a fast one on a creditor.

Still, the agreement is enough for Martino to envision a day without court hearings filled with testimony accusing him of dishonest conduct that he voraciously denied. Ultimately none of the conduct was proven.

The board was established after passage of the 1996 federal telecommunications act to make recommendations to the FCC on implementing universal service, a program that previously focused on ensuring that all residents have access to affordable phone service.

The panel is composed of two of the five FCC commissioners, four state utility commissioners and a consumer advocate.

The federal Universal Service Fund is undergoing an overhaul Read more…

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The largest shareholder of Level 3 Communications says it is disappointed by the Broomfield-based company’s financial performance and indicated in a report to shareholders that it may seek change.

“We are unhappy with Level 3’s operating results and stock price,” top executives at Southeastern Asset Management wrote in a report filed Friday with the SEC. “You can assume that we are neither oblivious nor idle.”

Southeastern, headed by Mason Hawkins, holds 29 percent of Level 3’s common shares. Level 3, which operates a fiber-optic communications network, received a delisting warning this month from Nasdaq after its shares traded for less than $1 for 30 straight days.

Hawkins’ remarks were first reported by Bloomberg News. The letter was addressed to shareholders of Southeastern’s Longleaf Partners Funds.

Hawkins and Southeastern president Staley Cates added that Level 3 has been slow to add new customers:

Level 3 has irreplaceable fiber assets, and demand for bandwidth is growing rapidly with the increasing movement of data and video across multiple platforms. The company’s pace for adding new direct customers has been disappointing. The contribution margin from increasing top line growth is substantial. Translating obvious demand into strong organic revenue growth in the near term will determine success.

Level 3 disclosed about two weeks ago that it secured a contract with movie-rental firm Netflix, and its shares have closed above $1 since that announcement.

Level 3 indicated in May that it may resume acquisitions, and analysts had speculated that a merger with Global Crossing would make the most sense. But a deal, which would have had to include a stock swap given Level 3’s massive debt load, apparently couldn’t be hammered out.

Sprint hasn’t yet announced the official launch of 4G service in the Denver area – expected soon (before the end of year) – but subscribers can latch onto the speedy connection in certain parts of town as the buildout approaches completion.

Clearwire, which is constructing the WiMax network, has lit a 4G tower in downtown Denver. I was able to get 4G service on the 16th Street Mall, at Tremont and Curtis streets, with the Samsung Epic, Sprint’s second 4G phone.

At Tremont, the download speed was just over 4 megabits per second. Existing 3G connections generally peak at 1.4 Mbps. Clearwire says the 4G network can offer speeds of up to 10 Mbps, though typical connections will range from 3 to 6 Mbps.

At any rate, 4G is noticeably faster than 3G. I only used it for a few minutes, but YouTube videos and high-bandwidth pages such as the full ESPN.com website loaded up right away.

I was told 4G service may also be available near the Interlocken area in Broomfield.

The iPhone 4 will likely outsell the Droid X given the iPhone’s built-in fan base. But I’m guessing the gap won’t be as wide as some assume. The buzz I’m hearing about the DX is incredible. In my circle, more people own the DX than the iPhone 4.

Here are 5 excellent free apps/games that I’ve installed on my DX (install and use at your own risk):

1. LauncherPro – Allows you to view the home screen in landscape mode. You’ll have to re-customize your widgets after installing the app, but it’s worth the time. You can activate 3D scrolling in the app drawer and “pinch” any screen to see your various home screens. You can add up to 7 screens. The “plus” version (for $2.99) lets you resize widgets and install a nifty people (contacts) widget.

2. Google Voice – For at least the next year, according to reports, you can get free unlimited text messaging on your cell phone with Google Voice. Just sign up for an account, choose a Google Voice phone number, install the app on the DX, uncheck “receive text messages on this phone” on your account page via a Web browser and you’ll be good to go. The texts use your data, so you should not incur any text message fees (check your account to make sure you’re not getting charged). If you receive duplicate texts, you didn’t set it up right. Using Google Voice to make calls will still eat up your phone minutes.

3. Advanced task killer – It’s well-known that battery life on the DX is not great. This app will kill all Read more…

Many faces have come and gone during the insider trading case of imprisoned former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio, who is slated to receive a new sentence Thursday. Under one methodology U.S. District Judge Marcia Krieger is considering, Nacchio would receive a shorter prison term. Here’s a look at the cast of characters who are here and those who have left since the 2007 trial.

Hanging tough

Government:

James Hearty – The assistant U.S. attorney delivered the trial’s opening statement. Hearty (pictured) has been involved in the case since the very beginning.

Kevin Traskos – The assistant U.S. attorney handled the cross-examination of Nacchio’s expert witness Daniel Fischel during trial. Traskos has also filed much of the paperwork related to the re-sentencing.

Anjan Thakor – New to the case, Thakor is a finance professor at Washington University in St. Louis who is serving as the government’s expert witness during Nacchio’s re-sentencing. He says Nacchio illegally gained between $23.5 million to $32.9 million.

Nacchio:

Sean Berkowitz – He was a lead attorney in the Justice Department’s successful prosecution of former Enron honchos Jeff Skilling, serving time at a prison in Littleton, and Ken Lay, who passed away in July 2006, which vacated his conviction. Berkowitz (pictured), now a partner in Chicago with Latham & Watkins, joined Nacchio’s team in 2008. He has a Vin Diesel-like persona in the courtroom and is now Nacchio’s lead attorney.

Daniel Fischel – The Northwestern University business law professor served as an expert witness for Nacchio during trial and is serving in the same capacity during the re-sentencing. He says Nacchio gained $1.8 million from the nonpublic information on which Nacchio based the stock sales that led to his conviction.

Long gone

Government:Cliff Stricklin – Lead trial attorney is now a defense attorney with HRO in Denver. He was previously with Holland & Hart.Read more…

Effective Jan. 1, Colorado will impose a 1.4 percent charge on prepaid phone cards and wireless services to help fund the state’s 911 system. The fee was authorized under Senate Bill 120, which Gov. Bill Ritter signed this month.

Previously, the state only collected a 911 charge on landlines and postpaid cellphones, or wireless services with contracts. Those funds amount to about $6 million a year.

Colorado will be the 7th state to implement a 911 charge on prepaid phone services, according to AT&T, which supported the legislation.

The additional funding could help advance new technologies for emergency response services, such as the ability for 911 centers to accept text messages and photos.

“This is a big win for our state and will help ensure emergency communications systems continue to serve Coloradans,” said AT&T state president Bill Soards.

Emilie Rusch covers retail and commercial real estate for The Post. A Wisconsin native and Mizzou graduate, she moved to Colorado in 2012. Before that, she worked at a small daily newspaper in South Dakota. It's the one with Mount Rushmore.